Destery Pratt
by TerraTonks
Summary: Giles picks up a new slayer who, good guess, has a previous tie to the group. She goes to LA to meet Angel and gets a small surprise. After throwing a Buffy-esque tantrum and getting over it, she meets her dad.
1. Meet the Gang

Giles set his leather suitcase down on the airport floor and took in a breath. He was standing directly between a Dunkin' Doughnuts and a McDonalds, breathing in the musty smell of artery clogging deliciousness. He would never eat at these places, but he had a special place in his heart for such stereotypical Americanism. "Hey Watcher, chill your jets man! Wait up!" said a 13 year old girl who had got lost somewhere in the doughnut shop. The jelly doughnut looked sickeningly like it was bleeding. "Where are your buddies?" she asked impatiently. "They'll get here, and for goodness sake get a napkin or something!"

Giles stood tall, in his usual attire that consisted mainly of tweed and formal wear. The girl he was assigned to stood at least 2 feet shorter than him, wore converse, ripped jeans, and a shirt that had 'Cake' printed in large on the front. Giles was never sure whether she meant the band or the confectionary. Her hair was short and hung like a boys, she spiked it up and died it fiery red. Giles couldn't stand her. She insisted on bringing her guitar, which hung naturally from her shoulder, and which she strangely named 'Comrade Awesome'. All the (sane) laid off counsel members were reinstated after the recent boom in slayers. Giles was singled out for having a fatherly presence and the ability to hinder very 'spunky' slayers. Although they only ever had one reference for him, which was Buffy.

The scoobies were supposed to come pick them up because Giles' car wouldn't be here for a few days, and he had sold his house so they would have to temporarily stay with Buffy. Destery, which was the girl's name, was known as Dax. Dax threw out the bloody looking wrapper and sat down in one of the airport seats. "I've always found it funny how they call them airport terminals," however she never got to elaborate because Giles was suddenly attacked by a flash of red hair. "Giles!" It ended up being Giles' friend Willow, who was quickly followed by Buffy (a blonde haired blur) however less enthusiastically. Finally a brown haired kid with an eye patch came up and gave him a high five, "Giles! Long time no see!" said the man covering his good eye, "Xander, it's only been a few weeks," Giles said chuckling, pulling the kid into a friendly hug. No one even noticed the girl sitting cross-legged silently judging them with a slight airy smirk. "So lets head out," said Buffy. They were all slightly alarmed when they noticed Dax stand with them. "Oh! I forgot you had to bring a new slayer back!"

They exchanged pleasantries and introduced each other and walked through the lethargic crowd to Buffy's car, Buffy eyed her suspiciously, and Xander tried his best to find her style of humor. They all chatted excitedly with Giles about the demons Buffy has faced since Giles left to get Dax. Dax didn't talk much on the way home, even though Giles appreciated the peace, but he began to worry about her. "Destery," "Mhm?" "What kind of songs do you play?" Dax paused, confused why he was interested, "Rock." She went back to staring out the window at the towns passing. Giles tried again, "Where are you from?" it was a last ditch effort but it worked. "London, England, Orphanage, half vampire, 13, no siblings. What else do you want to know?" she said shortly. "Half vampire? How does that work?" Xander asked voice cracking despite already being through puberty, which had always annoyed him. Dax looked at him with an expression as if she stepped on something rotten, "My father was a vampire, had sex with my mother, ditched her, then after I was born, came back to kill her. He only spared me because somehow he still had part of his soul, as degraded as it must have been by then." He shut up and looked at his feet. "Do you know your dad's name?" asked Giles. "Yeah, Spike, William the Bloody, William Pratt, and so on." Everyone in the car gasped. "You're Spike's daughter?" Buffy asked rhetorically. Dax nodded anyway. "I don't know anything else so don't bother asking." Dax said and returned to her view of the window face contorted in anger that only confused the scoobies.

They were all silent until they arrived at Buffy's house. She could feel their eyes tracking her movements, comparing them to the mannerisms of her father. She dropped her bags in the room they were letting her share with Dawn, Buffy's younger sister. She took a once around of the house and found the liquor cabinet, made a mental note to buy better vodka. It was a large house settled in a friendly looking neighborhood, the basement doubled as a containment area, gym, and storage. It had 5 bedrooms; all the scoobies lived here and had relatively large areas of the mansion like house to them selves. It turns out Willow Rosenberg had some connection to a rich family in Germany, and she was the only heir left. They no longer lived in Sunnydale, not that they could if they wanted to, it was blown to bits when Spike sacrificed his life to save the scoobies and the potentials.

They lived in some small-subdued part of California, near the coast. They sat lazily in the living room talking about everything that had happened when Dax interrupted, "Did you guys ever go back to see Sunnydale?" They had, in fact, they went to see the ruins but found that some of the things in the wreckage had been preserved from the battle. A few metal weapons, some frames of cars, some bricks from buildings, but what Dax found most interesting was the fact that beneath a rather heavy sheet of metal had fallen from the old school's foundation and covered spike after he had dusted, his jacket was saved. They showed her the barely recognizable heap of burnt leather that was her father's trademark (besides the hair of course). She ran her fingers over it and the others got a little creeped out and went back downstairs.

They watched a movie and Dax snuck upstairs with the cheap vodka and further examined her father's jacket. In a hole in a pocket she saw a glint of metal and carefully reached in and pulled it out. It was a small metal lighter. She tucked this is the pack she had brought with her, and took a long swig of liquid from the bottle. She walked back downstairs for dinner, Dawn asked her if she had tattoos and Dax answered, "Did Frodo take the ring to Mordor?" Dawn looked confused to Xander and he nodded. "Oo, show me!" Dax pulled up her sleeve and showed a replica of the death eater mark, and a heart with a banner across it saying 'Daddy'. Giles looked on intrigued and disgusted at the same time, he couldn't say anything because he had many tattoos that he is currently hiding with magic.

Xander struck up conversation "Hear anything from big bad and poofy lately?" Buffy looked mad but the others had to repress laughter. "Angel hasn't called lately, but he was saying he had something to tell me, he didn't sound very happy though." "We should go visit, like a surprise pop-in." said Xander sarcastically, making a little popping noise. "We should!" added Dawn hopefully. "No Dawn, I don't think we'll be very welcome guests." Said Giles patiently. "Angel? Like my dad's grandsire?" asked Dax. "Oh, so you do know more." Said Xander. "I read the counsels notes during the wait for a watcher." She said. "I'm going." She added. "You can't. I can't keep you from doing things, but I am in charge of you. You're certainly not running off to Los Angeles." Giles said, sticking his fork in a pile of potatoes. "Maybe I'm not giving you a choice Ripper." Eyes glaring at Giles. "Maybe you shouldn't call me that!" a small argument was turning into a surefire fight. "Maybe you should've kept your mouth shut about Angel! You can't just tell me there is some guy close by who knows so much about my dad and not expect me to go talk to him! I'm not going to be persuaded by your bloody 'positive role model', 'fatherly presence' crap!" She backed up and her chair fell over, she ran upstairs to get her things and her dad's jacket and ran downstairs to see Giles, fuming, blocking the door. "Get your pushy British ass out of the way!" and Giles was flung into the wall by the combination of slayer and vampire strength. Buffy burst through the doorway but the dark covered Dax's escape and Buffy didn't see her sprint down the sidewalk towards the first city bus stop she could find. She ran more than three miles to find one. It was pitch black out and the next bus would be arriving hours from now, and surely Giles would be coming to get her soon.


	2. Runaway

She hid in a bush nearby and laid down using her dad's old jacket as a pillow. She smelled a mixed aroma of burnt leather, alcohol, and something she couldn't place. After a few hours of the failed attempt at sleep she sat up and used a few small LED flashlight to read a book she snagged from Willows room. She looked through the assortment of spells and found what she was looking for. It was a restoration spell that would require no ingredients. She had been picking up skills from some of the more tolerable counselors and knew vaguely how to perform spells like this. She set her father's jacket in front of her and spoke the words to the spell, focusing on the jacket. It took three tries but eventually there was a small flash and the smell of burnt hair and the spell was done. Some smoke blocked her view but when she examined the jacket it was smooth and the holes were gone. She replaced the jacket under her head and read a few more spells she thought might be helpful in future endeavors.

After a while the sun began to rise and she checked her watch. The bus would be here in fifteen minutes; she gathered her things and peeked out to check for possible scoobies. Giles stood staring down at her, legs just inches from her face. "Nice try." he said. Dax tried to bolt out the other side but ran into another pair of legs, Xander's this time. Giles pulled her out by the hem of her father's jacket, which she had thrown on in her haste. Xander noticed, "Hey, she looks like a little Spike!" Giles obviously didn't think that was a good thing and got a firm grip on her arm to keep her from running. Giles had a messenger bag slung around his shoulder and her guitar around the other. "I'm going with you, so is Dawn." Dax was suspicious "Why? And why is Dawn coming?" She was trying to be nice to Dawn, but she really couldn't think of a reason to drag along a whiney teenage girl. "I thought you might want to hear exactly what he has to say on your father. Dawn just wanted to come with, and you can't really say no to Dawn." He didn't sound like he was expecting funny drinking stories about Spike.

The bus pulled up, "Bye Giles, tell the tall and fangless I said hi." With that Xander walked off and Dawn ran up from the sidewalk. "Hey, don't leave me!" They paid the bus fair and waited hours of watching passing scenery in angry silence, except for Dawn who was humming something from Ghost of the Robot, before they stopped near the place they knew Angel lived. They walked in the door and they were surprised it seemed like a regular office building. They saw Angel walk by, wrapped up in conversation with Wesley, a tall dark haired man in glasses. "Angel!" Giles went to go talk to him but Dax saw something that caught her eye even more, a blonde man in a leather coat just like hers was walking down the hall towards the lobby. She had never seen a picture of Spike, but she recognized the dimples that they shared.


	3. Hey, William

"Hey, you!" Dax said running after him. He turned around "Gah!" He looked at her up and down, the jacket, the dimples, the fire like hair, and the resemblance they shared caught him off guard. "Bloody hell!" his accent was significantly deeper than hers was, but she was now certain it was Spike. "I thought you were dead, they thought you were dead!" she yelled pointing to Giles and Angel, who were now looking on in horror. "But you're here, walking and freaking wearing the jacket, how can you even have the jacket? I have it!" she was getting really upset. Giles ran up and yanked back her shoulders; she was about to push him back into the wall like she had done to him the other night. She was now regretting yelling at him for trying to protect her. Spike backed up and looked at Angel for help "What?" he said to Giles. "Do you even remember what you did? Can you tell who I am?" She was kicking now, she got out of his grip only to turn around and clutch to Giles, crying. Giles arms stuck out, not sure whether he should hug her or not; Dawn rushed up and hugged her.

Spikes eye widened either in recognition or confusion. Giles let Dawn take over Dax's sudden burst of emotion and motioned for them both to follow him. They were now in Angels office, Dax had stopped crying and Dawn was currently bringing her a hot cup of blood, which she mentioned drinking occasionally to calm down. Dawn stroked her hair and Dax sipped quietly on the blood. She glared up at Spike when he looked over in her direction; he flinched and listened to Giles explanation. When he was done Spike turned around and left. "Okay, we're leaving." Dax said in a calm voice, not looking up from her empty mug. "But what about- "My dad? I thought he was dead, he could've looked for me, he knew I was still alive. Instead here he is, working for his sire, the girl he said he loved not even knowing he is still alive, not even caring whether or not the gang thought about him. Asshole." She pulled off the jacket and threw it onto the floor, leaving before they saw her eyes tear up.

She rushed down a random hallway in the building; glad it was empty. She heard the distinctive sound of someone crying. She opened an already slightly ajar door and saw Spike, head hanging between his knees, hands on the back of his head, sobbing in the main seat of a presentation room. Destery walked over and hopped up onto the table in front of Spike who didn't notice her until she rested he tennis shoes on his knees. "Hey, William." She said quietly. Tears stained both of their faces, but his had the admirable quality not to get puffy or red. He stared at her, not knowing what to say, or why she had the audacity to walk in on him crying. "I'm sorry, my name is Destery, but if you don't call me Dax I'll rip your lips off." She said, he chuckled, sharp teeth showing in his smile. Dax smirked and hopped off the desk. She sat in the chair one the opposite end of the tables, doing a little roll on the desk and landing right in the chair, showing off for her dad.

"So, uhm, what do you do?" He asked after a while. She kicked her legs and thought of something deep and meaningful to say, but couldn't think of anything, "Well… I can play Cake songs on the guitar." He looked at Dax, head tilted slightly to the right. "I… uh… I'm the slayer?" she said unsure. "What?" He straightened abruptly in his chair. "Well yeah, there is this system now. The potentials from the world were all gathered at points on each continent, after becoming slayers. Ones who had actual potential, to be all badass and crap, were assigned watchers. I so happened to get Ripper McTweedington out there." He sat back in his chair and nodded while she explained it. They got into various subjects, like the Ramones (who they both happened to love) and what being so old was like, what it was like being a vampire, and it finally cracked down to her mother.

"How did you kill my mum?" She asked, not smiling anymore. "What? I didn't kill your mom. Who told you that?" "The lady who raised me, the nun from the orphanage." "Well, she's wrong, I didn't kill her, Dru did." Dax looked up from her hands. "Dru killed her…" Spike continued, "She had been sleeping around and I left to go it on my own, you know, destroy stuff and kill people. But Dru wouldn't have it. I was using your mother… rather evilly, and Dru found out a few years after we got back together and killed her. I hadn't realized she was pregnant when I left, not that I would've stayed and been all repentant or anything. She probably would've killed you too but she was kind of busy with your mum, while she was having her fun I went upstairs to grab my lighter, that I left there like a bloody idiot, and I found you." Dax had a sudden thought "Wait right here!"

She got up and ran out of the room, passing Giles who was talking to Angel and Dawn who was chatting lazily with Harmony. She got her/Spikes jacket from the floor, swished it around and put it on, pulling out his lighter. She got back to the conference room and threw him the charred lighter; the spell hadn't worked on everything. He smiled and pulled out the same, but very clean, silver lighter. "Hey, keep it" he said throwing it back to her. "But don't smoke okay?" he said, feigning seriousness. Dawn walked in and saw them sitting in opposite chairs, "Hey you do look like a mini Spike!"


End file.
